More Than a Truce
by metatmidnight
Summary: In which Joy realizes her past mistakes and apologizes to Nina during the season 2 finale. (Late HOA One-Shot Day 2019)


Joy stood by the window in the common room, smiling at the sight of everyone else having a good time. The happiness she felt was genuine, especially for all of the happy couples holding each other close. Patricia and Eddie, Mara and Jerome, Amber and Alfie, and finally, Fabian and Nina.

There was a time during the semester where Joy hated the idea of the boy she'd been crushing on for as long as she can remember being with another girl. After months of trying to destroy Nina enough to make her leave, Joy can honestly say now that she's come to regret everything. None of that was anyone's fault; Joy was forced to leave last semester and it wasn't like the whole house was just going to stop and wait for her. Her housemates had moved on, so it was time she did too. It was time to forget about all of the built-up anger she'd been holding on to and bring back her own joy in life.

The music stopped and Trudy announced that it was time for the party to end, since the students would have to leave first thing tomorrow morning. There were a few groans, but everyone obeyed. Jerome and Poppy hugged their father tight, promising to see him for the first time at their house in years tomorrow. Eddie and Mr. Sweet did the same, though it seemed more of an emotional goodbye due to him going back to America.

That thought made Joy look for Nina, who just as she thought, was with her grandmother in the kitchen. Joy realized in that moment that she had never apologized for that awful article she wrote using the alias of "Jack Jackal." It must have stung, which was what Joy wanted it to do at that time. Guilt prickled at her while Mick tapped her shoulder.

He held his arms out for a hug, and she sent him a sad smile. Mara had broken up with him to be with Jerome, something Joy didn't think she would understand. She'd pick Mick over Jerome any day, if you asked her.

"Are you alright? I saw Fabian with Nina, I guess they're back together?" He mumbled into her shoulder as he comfortingly put a hand on her back.

"Yeah, I'm fine. They look really good together." Joy was able to say it and believe it herself. "What about you?"

Mick let her go and shrugged. "It's whatever. I kind of saw this coming, if I'm being honest. It just sucks that this was a waste of a flight."

Joy could see Nina's grandmother leaving the room as he spoke. Nina was left alone in the kitchen, looking down at her phone. "Uh, hey, could you hold on a second? There's something I need to do."

He let out a laugh. "Okay, sure. It's not like I've got any place to be now, anyway."

"Thanks." She touched his arm and started walking towards the kitchen, smiling at everyone who caught her eye. That included Fabian.

Joy hated to admit she was nervous, but she was. What if Nina didn't want to hear what she wanted to say? Then again, Nina was the one who had saved her life earlier with that tear of gold. There's no way there could be any bad blood between them now.

"Hey," Joy softly said as she stepped into the room. "Did your grandmother leave yet?"

Nina looked up and nodded. "Hey, yeah she left. She seems to be doing much better now, thankfully."

"It's because of you she's feeling better. You got rid of…" Joy trailed off when she saw Nina tense up. Maybe it was best not to name names. "The problem. You saved us all, especially me. I wanted to thank you for that." She paused to let her take that in. "And, I also wanted to apologize to you for everything I've done. Pretending to be you to kiss your ex-boyfriend, trying to drive you guys apart, and for that awful article I wrote about you. You didn't deserve it."

"Wow, thank you. I really appreciate that." Nina smiled, then looked down. "I don't know about the 'I don't deserve it' part, but-"

"Of course you didn't. I'd react the same if I were you." Joy interrupted, coming to stand right next to her. "You deserve everything good that's happened to you. I acted childishly, and I can admit that."

Nina still didn't look convinced, so Joy spoke again. "Oh, accept the apology! How are we going to ever become friends if you don't?"

That caused the other girl to laugh. "Alright, you're right. I accept it."

"Finally!" A loud voice came from the door. The two of them turned to see Amber, Mara, and Patricia standing there. "So we're all friends now, right?"

"Amber- I mean, how long have you guys been there?" Joy felt incredibly flustered and almost embarrassed at the thought of an audience listening to her.

"Just the entire time," The blonde rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's see you guys hug it out! I can't believe it's taken you two this long to work out your differences."

"Differences? They share the same taste in boys, you know." Patricia teased and Amber hushed her, not wanting to ruin the moment.

Joy and Nina weren't paying attention to anything else as they hugged for the very first time, both thinking that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.


End file.
